(6 March 2007 – USA) HSBC’s 2006 profit has been dented by its problematic US mortgage lending business.The bank, which has its HQ in London, posted a pre tax profit of US$22.1 billion for the full 2006 financial year, up five percent from the US$21 billion the bank reported a year earlier.
HSBC was slugged US$10.6 billion for bad debts in its mortgage lending business in the US.
The bank warned investors of the issue in February, sacked its North American head and restructured the business after a strategy of lending to high risk home borrowers in the US had come unstuck following a downturn in the US housing market.
HSBC said private and investment banking and its operations in Asia, Mexico and emerging markets had delivered strong growth.